CSR News

Chevron Star "Witness" Worked On Fraudulent Remediation In Ecuador

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /CSRwire/ - Chevron’s new star “witness” in Ecuador, Fernando Reyes, worked for the oil giant on its fraudulent remediation in the mid-1990s and later lied in his affidavit, according to blog by the rainforest communities who won a $19.04 billion judgment against the company.

He also worked for the firm that conducted a secret audit on the company’s behalf that found extensive contamination from Chevron’s three decades of oil exploration in the South American country.

Reyes is part of a long list of Chevron witnesses in the Ecuador case whose initial claims have turned out to be misleading or false and have backfired against the company, said the blog. These witnesses include Diego Borja, Wayne Hansen, Sara Portilla, John Conner, Ralph Marquez, Pedro J. Alvarez and Douglas Southgate, among others.

In the mid-1990s, Reyes worked as a consultant in Ecuador to a Chevron contractor, Fugro McClelland, that audited the concession area and found “hydrocarbon contamination requiring remediation at all production facilities and a majority of the drill sites." The audit findings were kept secret until after the Ecuador trial began in 2003, said Karen Hinton, the U.S. spokesperson for the Ecuadorians.

The audit, which Reyes would have been familiar with, completely contradicts his charge in his affidavit that the contamination caused by the company was not as severe as claimed. See here and here for more details.

Chevron produced an affidavit from Reyes last week that contained examples of "fake facts and junk science," said Hinton. Pablo Fajardo, the lawyer for the Ecuadorian communities, announced that Reyes would be sued in Ecuador for defamation.

“We hope Reyes shows up in court to face cross-examination so the truth can be fully disclosed, unfiltered by Chevron’s legal team and the fake narrative being peddled by the company’s six public relations agencies,” said the blog on The Chevron Pit.

For a summary of the overwhelming evidence against Chevron, see here; for a video about the case, see here; for a 60 Minutes report on the case, see here.